Gov. Andrew Cuomo amended his proposed budget in recent days to include a $600 million lab in the Albany area dedicated to fighting grave public health risks. "The broad framework of the plan to consolidate the operations of the Wadsworth Center public health labs, which the Cuomo administration says are "functionally obsolete and deteriorating," is laid out in one of the 30-day budget amendments released by the governor's office late last week," the Albany Times Union reported this morning.

Voters want the state's Department of Education -- and not the governor -- to set classroom policies, a poll out this morning finds.

The poll found Cuomo's popularity slipped slightly, though he'd still beat his two potential Republican challengers -- Donald Trump and Rob Astorino -- by more than 40 points.

The state's top fiscal officer on Monday questioned Cuomo's ability to follow through with a $2 billion surplus that the governor says is possible if state spending stays steady. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli also raised concerns about the state's new borrowing methods under Cuomo, saying that consolidating bond sales has made it harder to track new debt.